The motive of Grynszpan is unclear. In a judicial hearing in 1942, he said it was revenge. He meant to shoot the ambassador, but hit the secretary instead.

The NSDAP used this event as an excuse to seize Jewish property. There had been a similar event in February 1936 but there were almost no consequences. Then, a Jewish student, David Frankfurter, had fired shots at the NSDAP secretary Wilhelm Gustloff. At that time, the NSDAP could not act because of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.